decodable - They Can Read It - But They Spell It "Wuz"? That's a Good Sign

June 5, 2026

If you're sitting at the kitchen table watching your child write "kats" for cats and "sed" for said - right after reading finally clicked - you are not alone. That quiet panic is real: Did the reading even work? Is spelling a whole separate struggle?

Here's the reassuring truth: spelling isn't a second, harder skill your child is failing. It's reading in reverse. The very same sound-to-letter work that makes reading click is what drives spelling. When your child writes a word the way it sounds - "wuz" for was, "kats" for cats - that's not a mistake. It's them practicing the exact skill that builds reading, just in the other direction. We call it encoding; you can think of it as decoding with the pencil in hand.

TRY THIS

Tonight, catch one invented spelling - "wuz," "sed," "kats" - and before reaching for the red pen, celebrate the sounds they captured out loud. "You heard all three sounds in 'cats'! Now let's check the real spelling together." Then write the correct word beside theirs and name the surprise part. You just turned a "mistake" into a lesson in sounds - and you did it without a single frown.

MICRO-TIPS

• Celebrate the sounds first. Invented spelling proves your child hears the sounds - that's the reading muscle firing.
• Correct gently, then move on. "You got every sound! The tricky part is that 'a' actually says /o/ in 'was'." One sentence, no lecture.
• Keep a "sound journal." A notebook where your child's invented spellings are written proudly - a record of a brain that's wiring itself up.
• Expect the wobble. Invented spelling is a phase, and it's a good one. It passes as they see more real words.
• Never make writing a test. A happy sentence in invented spelling beats a perfect sentence written in tears.

A NOTE FOR YOU

Invented spelling looks like a step backward, but it's the opposite: it's proof your child is doing the most important work in reading - listening for sounds. The child who writes "wuz" hears the /w/, /u/, /z/ in "was" better than the child who copies it perfectly without thinking. Celebrate that sound-ear. It's the same ear that will one day recognize thousands of words in an instant. You're not watching a problem - you're watching a reader grow.

Sources & Further Reading

• Reading Rockets - Writing shows why writing words the way they sound is a milestone, not a red flag.
• Reading Rockets - Spelling and Word Study explains how spelling supports reading.
• National Center on Improving Literacy - Resources for Families offers free, parent-friendly resources for supporting writing and reading at home.
• AUSPELD (Australia) - Understanding literacy difficulties explains why invented spelling reflects developing sound-to-letter skills.